Ethics should go hand in hand with business, and all companies should place a moral code above the desire to gain a profit. Sadly, this is not always the case, and when this happens, human lives can be directly affected.
The latest scandal involves, Monsanto, the company that produces agricultural chemical. It appears that Roundup, its herbicide has carcinogenic effects because of the glyphosate present in it.
Company emails
Some outraging documents, memos and e-mails have become public and they present us with a shocking revelation: Monsanto did not test the product enough and the company did not know whether it can be damaging.
One of their toxicologists, Donna Farmer wrote in one e-mail: “You cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen. We have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.” This statement is even worse, considering the fact that it was sent back in 2003, 14 years ago.
Class-action suits
These documents came to light after numerous persons asked for compensation from Monsanto. The law firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei& Goldman is one of the firms that working for this case. It remains to see how will the company defend itself and its products.
Monsanto was aware
It appears that the company knew what was in store for it, so when International Agency for Research On Cancer made a decision regarding glyphosate, no one at Monsanto was surprised. “What we have long been concerned about has happened. Glyphosate is on for an IARC review in March of 2015,” wrote Donna Farmer back in September 2014.
Another email revealed that William Heydens, another scientist at Monsanto wrote about the genetic damage that can be caused. He mentioned that the company has vulnerabilities with “exposure, genetic and mechanism of action.”
